LANSING, MI - Gov. Rick Snyder is expected to announce plans for “additional investment” in Michigan public education in his budget proposal this week, but it's likely to be a relatively small step toward restoring funding that has been cut over a period of several years in some categories.

The size and scope of the possible spending increases have not been announced publicly, but they will be part of the Republican governor’s formal budget presentation on Thursday.

Many within public education are not expecting much in the way of additional money for the state fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. But it appears that they’ll at least be holding steady – or in some cases faring a bit better – compared to the current fiscal year.

“It’s safe to say the governor’s proposal will include additional investment in public education,” Kurt Weiss, a spokesman for the Snyder administration’s budget office, said Monday.

Snyder’s proposal will cover a broad range of state government spending. The Republican-led Michigan Legislature will consider his proposal and make some changes, with a goal of having the new spending plan approved by this summer.

The current state budget includes modest increases for some education spending, compared to the previous fiscal year. But the current increases don’t do much to make up for some past cuts and in some cases may not cover increasing costs. Many Democrats – who hold the minority in the Legislature -- say more money should be spent on schools, community colleges and universities.

“We'd like to see an acknowledgement this year of the need to get Michigan families back on track,” said Robert McCann, a spokesman for Senate Democrats. “That starts with education and making sure our system has the support it needs to function. Not just K-12, but also higher education and early ed.”

Budget cuts and declining enrollment have forced school districts to close buildings, reduce staff benefits, privatize some services and consider sharing other services.

The state’s current minimum per student foundation allowance for K-12 public schools is $6,966, up 1.8 percent from the prior fiscal year. Districts at the low end of the funding spectrum can top $7,000 if they meet certain “best practices” and other incentives outlined by the Snyder administration and the Legislature.

That’s still well under the high point of a $7,316 minimum per pupil foundation from the state’s 2008-09 fiscal year. Public school districts have been dealing mostly with per student funding reductions since, part of the reason more districts are facing financial difficulties.

Many K-12 school district budgets across the state have been hurt by declining enrollment, since much of the financial support coming from the state is based on the number of students.

The Michigan Association of School Administrators is telling members to expect a flat budget at best, said Brad Biladeau, who works in government relations for the organization. He said Thursday’s proposal could be “another budget that requires school districts to do more with less.”

Michigan’s public universities and community colleges are getting a 3 percent increase in state aid for operations, on average, during the current fiscal year. But that came after some previous cuts – including a 15 percent reduction for universities in the previous year.

Mike Boulus -- executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan – has said the state was in a “decade of disinvestment” in higher education. That might have begun to end with this fiscal year’s increase, and Boulus hopes it’s the start of a trend to eventually replace past cuts and go beyond that with additional state support.

“We can’t do it overnight, but we can start making a run at it,” Boulus said.

MLive.com plans to have live blog coverage of the Snyder administration’s budget presentation Thursday morning.